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Geology

• The study of the physical earth: The rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change.

How was the Earth formed?

• What’s unique about our planet?• It orbits a sun, our source of energy

• It’s mostly water

• It has an atmosphere

• It can sustain life

• How old is the earth?

How the Earth was Made Documentary

1. How can we estimate the age of the earth?

2. What is significant about the salt experiment in space?

3. Describe the layers of the earth

4. What were the contributions of Ernest Rutherford?

5. What was learned from the Arizona Experiment?

What lies beneath the earth’s surface?

The Earth’s Layers

• The Crust• About 5 km thick under the ocean

• About 40 km thick under the continents

• The Mantle• 3000 km thick

• temps range between 500 to 900 °C

• The Core• Softer outer core

• Solid inner core• Nickle/iron

• Temp: 9000 °C

Plate Tectonics

• The Earth's surface is covered by a series of crustal plates.

• The ocean floors are continually moving, spreading from the center, sinking at the edges, and being regenerated.

• Convection currents beneath the plates move the crustal plates in different directions.

• The source of heat driving the convection currents is radioactivity deep in the Earth’s mantle.

Earthquakes• Shaking felt on the surface of

the earth caused by the sudden release of pressure in the crust

• Usually caused by movement along fault lines along tectonic plates

• When earthquakes happen offshore they can displace water and cause a Tsunami

• Measured on the Richter scale

Earthquakes and Volcanoes:Natural Disasters that Shape

the Landscape

September 26th, 2018

Earthquake Exercise

Work with an Atlas

•Name ten cities, from several different regions that may be at risk of a heavy earthquake

•Describe where the city is located (what country)

•Use other maps in your atlas to approximate absolute location

•Describe what plates it could be affected by

Presentations

• Canada’s Dormant Volcanoes

• Eyjafjallajökull

• Vanuatu

• Yellowstone Caldera

• Mt St. Helens

Rocks

September 30th, 2019

Types of Rock

The Earth’s Crust is mostly made up of rocks

• Igneous rock – magma that has cooled and become solid• obsidian

• Sedimentary rock – rocks that have eroded and been deposited elsewhere• Limestone

• Metamorphic Rock – rocks formed under the surface of the earth from heat and pressure• Granite

The Rock Cycle

Erosion

• Weathering• Breaking down the rocks

• Transporting• Moving the rocks

• Depositing• Dropping off the rocks

• What forces can affect erosion?

The Continental Divide

• Representative of the North American Cordillera

• Enhanced by the retreat of Glaciers

Ice Ages• Earth has had several ice

ages

• The last ice age ended between 6000 and 10,000 years ago

• During the last ice age, glaciers covered most of Canada and the Northern US

• Retreat of glaciers through period of global warming shaped current landscape

Glaciers

• Alpine Glaciers are smaller glaciers found on mountains

• They move down valleys because of gravity

• Alpine glaciers in Canada today in the Arctic and in the West Coast Mountains

• Continental Glaciers (or ice sheets) are much bigger than alpine glaciers – they can cover entire continent

• Move because of their own weight (like pancake batter spreading over the pan)

• Today, there are only two continental glaciers – over Greenland and Antarctica

Columbia Icefield

• Located in Canadian Rockies astride BC and Alberta

• 325 sq km

• Made up of six major glaciers

• Biggest is the AthabascaGlacier

Athabasca Glacier

AthabascaGlacier

Salmon Glacier - Stewart, BC

Geologic Journey: The Atlantic Coast

Take note of specific features of the Atlantic Coast

Take note of the geologic forces that have shaped them

Map of Canada- Pinpoint and label examples of the following• 7 lakes

• 4 rivers

• 10 islands

• 3 bays

• 1 glaciers

• 1 gulf

• 3 islands

• 3 mountains

• 1 archipelago

• 5 peninsulas

• 1 desert

• 1 volcano